Berlin - Warszawa: Metropolis

Why is the grass always greener on the other side of the fence? What are Poles looking for in Berlin and what have Germans found in Warsaw? Both the proximity and the distance of the two neighbours can be seen best in their biggest cities, in the way they view themselves and how they see the others, and in the cultural projects they attract.

Life on the Edge

Besides the obvious borders, such as the line stretching between Poland and Byelorussia, there are also invisible boundaries to be found within the culture, infrastructure and economy of a society, as the tourism boom along the Baltic coastline shows. Some representatives of the arts scene debate these rifts.

After the Coal: new-old Upper Silesia

Derelict areas of the coal industry have become playing fields for architectural experiments which invite us to examine the similarities and the differences of structural changes in both Upper Silesia and the Ruhr Valley. The interesting projects are those happening within the upheavals and which stay on in the location to have a greater effect.

Dream Cities and Ghost Towns

There is no doubt, Gdansk - Danzig - is a dream city, though sequestered somewhere between the traditional and contemporary. At the other end of Poland, an author visits the suburban town of his childhood, the socialist city of Nowa Huta. What are the relationships between dreams and ghosts?

Working or not Working?

The negative image of the “Polish economy” is a hard one to change in Germany; a 1987 dictionary of colloquialisms called it a synonym for “unimaginable chaos”. Is that just a prejudice of yesteryear? In the arts, people also understand the economy as a symbolic exchange.

Debates

Polish political theatre has been discovered by the media - and vice versa. Another polarising debate in Poland is emancipation. There are many projects revolving around the discussions of ‘now and then’, ‘East and West’ and or focussing on cultural, urban and economic issues.